Hand Washing On-The-Go Without Sanitizer

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In this post I share tips on how I wash my hands away from home without hand sanitizer.

The Corona Virus Pandemic has created a shortage on certain items including hand sanitizer. Even hand soap is difficult to find sometimes. At home I use some foaming hand soap dispensers because they make a significant savings in the amount of soap I use. I use a similar concept when away from home.

Disclaimer

I use this method when I don't have access to running water like if I'm out hiking or camping. Hand sanitizer is good for some things but not great for getting dirt off my hands if I want to clean my hands before eating. I don't have any way to verify how effective this is but it has worked well on dirt and the principles seem sound. With the shortage of hand sanitizer and gloves we need options. This is mine. If this is your only option to wash your hands continue to try to keep your hands away from your face to be safe.

What You'll Need

Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap
Chlorine Bleach
Dropper with ml markings
Refillable Foaming Soap Dispensers (to save on soap at home)
2oz Travel Foaming Soap Dispensers (for on-the-go)
or 1oz spray bottles if you want something smaller or can't find the foaming ones.
6 or 8 ounce spray bottle with adjustable nozzle for rinsing or larger depending how much room you have for it. This aluminum one looks nice.
Paper towels in a plastic zipper bag for drying your hands

Step 1: Prepare Soap Solution

If you're using the foaming dispensers follow the instructions. If you're using a spray bottle, I use about a 1 to 4 or 5 ratio of liquid hand soap to water. After mixing I'll test it by spraying it on my hands. I'm looking for a small amount of thin lather. If there isn't enough slipperiness or lather I'll add a little more soap. If my hands get too foamed up I'll add more water.

Step 2: Prepare the Bleach Rinse Solution

I like to add some bleach to the rinse water to help it stay sanitary as well as for it to have some sanitizing effect. Since the FDA recommends a bleach dilution of 50-200 ppm for food contact surfaces including utensils, it seemed like a safe concentration to use on your hands. I wouldn't recommend going above 200ppm but during the ebola virus the CDC put out a document on how to create a bleach hand sanitizing solution that was about 500 ppm bleach.

Try to get bleach that has the concentration of bleach (sodium hypochlorate) listed on the label. If it's not on the label it's at most 3% but I'm not sure if it could be less than that. Use this bleach concentration calculator to help you determine the amount of your bleach you need to add to your bottle. Make a new solution every day. Try not to make too much more than you need. Use the calculator below to determine how much bleach you need.

Bleach Concentration Calculator

Enter the concentration of bleach found on the bottle, the concentration of finished solution you'd like in parts per million (ppm) and the total amount of sanitizer solution you'd like to end up with in ounces.

Bleach Needed (use most appropriate measure)
	% bleach concentration
	Desired concentration in ppm (50 to 100)
	Total volume in ounces
	ounces of bleach or
	milliliters of bleach or
	teaspoons of bleach

Step 3: Spray your hands

Spray your hands or pump out enough foam to start washing your hands. You should have a nice thin lather all over your hands. Rub them strongly together making sure you cover all areas thoroughly. Scrape your nails on your palms, scrub the back of your hands and fingers. Really scrub good.

Step 4: Rinse away soap

If you have access to clean running water use that to rinse your hands. If not use the spray bottle with bleach solution in it. Set the stream to a strong stream and spray the soap off your hands. Aim the spray so it doesn't splash back at you or anyone else.

Step 5: Dry your hands

Let the bleach solution stay on your hands for about a minute to sanitize them. You can let your hands air dry if that's your only choice but it's best to use a clean, dry, paper towel to dry your hands, especially since this method of rinsing isn't as effective as using running water.